Armenian President Calls For Snap Elections
According to RFE/RL, President Armen Sarkisian has called for holding early parliamentary elections in Armenia, saying that they are needed to resolve a political crisis sparked by the war in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The elections would “save the country from upheaval” in the wake of the six-week conflict that resulted in Armenian territorial losses in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, Sarkisian said in a televised address to the nation late on November 16.
He urged Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government and My Step alliance to come up with a “road map” for the snap elections. They should be held by a new, interim “government of national accord,” Sarkisian added.
"Taking into account the current situation, taking into account public demands, it is obvious that in order to avoid internal political upheavals, the holding of early parliamentary elections is inevitable," Sarkisian said after meeting with members of various political groups.
Sarkisian, who has largely ceremonial powers, said that his proposals reflect the dominant view of political party leaders and public figures with whom he has held consultations in recent days.
Some of those parties have been holding demonstrations in Yerevan to condemn Pashinian’s handling of the war. The prime minister has rejected their demands. He has yet to publicly clarify whether he could agree to snap general elections demanded by his political opponents.
Pashinian on November 16 dismissed his foreign minister in a cabinet reshuffle as he came under mounting pressure from Sarkisian and the opposition to resign over the peace deal with Azerbaijan.
The Russia-brokered November 10 peace deal, which came after Azerbaijani forces made major battlefield gains to regain territory lost to Armenian separatists nearly three decades ago, allows Azerbaijan to keep a sizable chunk of the mountainous region, as well as much of the area ringing the enclave.
Thousands of angry protesters continued to rally in Yerevan on November 16, backing calls from 17 opposition groups demanding that Pashinian resign.
Armenian authorities say that the opposition protests are illegal, citing martial law declared following the outbreak of war on September 27.
The biggest opposition bloc in parliament, Prosperous Armenia; the former ruling Republican Party; the Hayrenik (Fatherland) party; and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation party are among 17 opposition groups that launched the protests starting on November 10. The leaders of these parties have been arrested and released several times since the start of the protests.
